


the more that you say, the less i know

by savanting



Series: The Swift Tides of Auradon and the Isle (TSwift x Descendants) [13]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fling - Freeform, Friends With Benefits, One Shot, Post-Canon, Post-Descendants (2015), Post-Descendants 2, Post-Descendants 3, Short One Shot, hindsight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28680585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savanting/pseuds/savanting
Summary: Jay didn't realize Audrey was socomplicated, especially for a princess. One-Shot.
Relationships: Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants), Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Jay & Audrey Rose (Disney), Jay & Carlos De Vil, Jay & Mal (Disney), Jay/Audrey Rose (Disney)
Series: The Swift Tides of Auradon and the Isle (TSwift x Descendants) [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1910446
Comments: 5
Kudos: 8





	the more that you say, the less i know

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own _Descendants_ or any other Disney property.
> 
> A comment on another fic of mine made me wonder, "What if?" in regards to a (secret) relationship between Jay and Audrey. Plus, I just really want to write more of the characters who aren't as explored in canon. (I will get to Gil someday soon, I promise!!) And we have to continue my TSwift x _Descendants_ series into 2021 too...
> 
> The title comes from lyrics in the song "Willow" by Taylor Swift ( _Evermore_ album, released 2020).

Jay doubted whether either of of them would have ever talked about it, but there had been a time when he and Audrey - daughter of Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip - had their own heated little fling.

Of course it had been commonplace for Jay because dating on the Isle had never exactly been exclusive, no matter _who_ you were with, but a princess? Of course he had been her little secret shoved in a broom closet in her castle.

(Now that he thought back, they _had_ kissed once or twice while hidden in a broom closet, funnily enough…)

Even Carlos, who would have probably been Jay’s blood-oath brother in a more primal age, hadn’t known about the little trysts.

But more than anyone, perhaps, Jay had hardly been surprised by Audrey’s flirtation with the dark side.

“Do you ever think about it? The politics of good and evil?” The words had been uttered after one particularly long make-out session while they were hiding up behind the parapets of Auradon Prep’s library’s roof. Jay hadn’t been keen on risking expulsion, but Audrey had goaded him that even squeaky-clean King Ben had once been a rule-breaker in that regard.

Jay, who had never been one for philosophy of any kind, had laughed a little at her. “I’ve _lived_ it, sure, but I can’t wax poetic about it.”

She had scowled at him. “I’m being serious, Jay.”

_And I wish you wouldn’t be. Things are less fun that way._

His fingertips had run circles into the fabric of her skirt as they half-lay out of sight from anyone who might have been snooping from below. “There are good guys and there are bad guys,” he had said slowly, “but sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference. Is that what you’re getting at?”

She sighed, a huff of a sound that made him sense that this conversation was far from over, and threw an arm over her face. “It’s just not fair,” she murmured. “I did everything _right_ , Jay, yet I can’t get what I want.”

 _You can have me - if you want me, that is._ But those words were a tad too desperate for Jay to voice aloud. He wouldn’t be that guy. It was a wonder a girl - a _princess_ \- like her even wanted anything to do with a street rat like him. He wasn’t like Aladdin, parading in with a fleet of dancers and elephants and all manner of spectacle, the power of a genie from a lamp on his side. Jay was lucky he even had spare clothes in his wardrobe, even months after coming to Auradon for the first time.

“Aren’t you overthinking things a bit?” Jay asked, leaning on his hand to watch Audrey still play with her dramatics. Sometimes he sensed that she just needed an audience to watch her throw her princess-y tantrums. “I mean, you don’t be good for the rewards, do you? Doing evil things may get you more in the long run, but it’s a matter of what you can live with doing, you get what I mean?”

The worrying point that he would think upon later was that Audrey didn’t answer right away. She just stayed stock still as he watched her, trying to puzzle out this princess who was a bit more complicated than he had ever really thought she could be.

And complicated - he was done with that. Hell, hadn’t he left behind enough baggage on the Isle? He still got regular phone calls from his father about smuggling things out of Auradon to his shop back on the Isle.

Jay had been trying to leave behind anything that could get him tangled up in responsibility or guilt. It was bad enough that he would probably have died just to protect his crew from the Isle. Hadn’t he been ready to take the brunt of a few spells back when Maleficent had threatened Mal’s safety?

He wanted no strings attached - or few, if possible.

And he hadn’t been ready to add Audrey as another string to tether him in some way, to keep him from living his freedom-full life.

It had been Jay’s turn to huff out a sigh. “You really have a lot of issues, don’t you?”

The accusatory tone had broken through Audrey’s bubble because it only took a moment before she lifted up her arm to look at him. “Issues?” The word bubbled out of her mouth as if she was shocked by it.

He had nodded. “If I wanted to discuss the pros and cons of Auradon’s messed-up system, I would wait to be assigned it in my Ethics and Heroics class.” _And I’d bribe Doug to write the essay for me. Maybe with baked goods from Evie._

Audrey frowned at him. “What are you getting at?”

He shot her a meaningful look. “I think we’ve come to the end of this beautiful thing we shared.”

Audrey was so shocked that she just stared at him. “You - you’re breaking up with me?”

And then he had just shaken his head, a grim smile on his face. “I don’t think we can break up if we were never really dating in the first place, can we?”

The princess had no words to _that_ , but not long after that he had gotten perhaps his just desserts: a well-timed slap across the face.

And then, of course, he had to figure out how to get off the roof by himself.

Those memories were a long time ago now - he wasn’t sure he had ever even spoken to Audrey after the fact, especially since she had conveniently gone through correspondence methods for the rest of her schooling through Auradon Prep - but he probably knew better than most what dark urges had been bubbling up inside her for a long time.

The night the Isle barrier fell, he had actually gone up to her, away from the rest of the crowd.

“Are you satisfied?” he asked, handing her a paper cup of punch from the refreshment table. She had taken it, side-eyeing him. “Did your thirst for vengeance get quenched?”

Audrey, for her part, just looked down at her shoes. “I don’t know.”

“I won’t say I’m on your side - you hurt a lot of people, including my friends - but I’ll always be hoping that you’ll find happiness somewhere, Audrey.”

She blinked rapidly, as if she were trying to stem off a tide of tears, and Jay was glad that he didn’t have to try and comfort a crying girl. “Thank you,” she said. And it actually sounded like she meant it, princess ego and all.

Then, before he could think better of it, he leaned in to brush a kiss against her cheek. “You’ll figure things out,” he said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. “I believe that.”

Audrey did in fact smile after that, and then Jay left her to her own devices. Maybe she would even join the dancing that had just started. Maybe someone would help her soothe the wounds that were still trying to heal.

Jay rejoined his group of friends - his family, his home - and he hoped that someday Audrey too would find that kind of welcome and acceptance somewhere herself.


End file.
